Call me Scrooge, but it’s time to cut!

4-08pm

Twenty years ago we had a day mom who looked after our children when I went back to morning’s only work. She was an elderly lady who lived over the road from us. Her name was Aunty Mary & she called us ‘die ryk van Niekerks!'(The rich van Niekerks) Why? Because we threw the toothpaste tube away when it was finished!  It was not uncommon for me to return home and find the toothpaste tube, rolled tightly up to the lid and firmly secured with a paper clip! When that no longer worked,  I would come home and find the toothpaste tube cut about a third of the way down. Toothpaste had to be ‘scooped’ out to finish the tube! That was Aunty Mary’s way!  It was not a habit I continued after we no longer needed Aunty Mary! But I was reminded of it today!  Let me introduce you to the two products I always have. They are replaced long before they are finished.

The sun block I can honestly say, I wear as moisteriser 365 (366 in 2012) days of the year – come rain or shine, snow or sleet, wind or hail, cloud or fog, I block out. Exposure to the sun is the NUMBER 1 cause of skin cancer and aging. I’m preventing the first and embracing the second gracefully!  The foundation I wear almost every day. Neither of these products is cheap. The sunblock in this size (450ml) costs around R200. The foundation (35ml) costs about R80 – that’s more than R2000 a litre!  So I have been trying to squeeze out every last drop. I bought new stock, but have kept the old to try and eke out a little more. Eventually, I did an ‘Aunty Mary’ and made the cut…

There was still quite a bit of sunblock left to use, but what shocked me was the foundation. There was about a quarter left…

They need to use a softer tube to get more out without having to go as far as cutting up the bottle! I’ve thrown this away before! I won’t do that again!

So now that I have got that off my chest, let me tell you what  I did today. I spent a lovely three hours with Dee whose testimony I recorded. We also had tea & a very long chat! It was wonderful. Here she is with her cat, Pearl…

She gave me two amazing patio plants. When I got home, Mike had finished installing the water feature from the back garden to the patio. He had worked very very hard! It looked great…especially when we added Dee’s plants…

The fern is perfect for this spot and the other plant she gave us is the Delicious Monster on the other side! 🙂 I’m not sure if Dee reads my blog, but in case she does, THANK-YOU DEE!!!

Mike & I intend going out for dinner tonight. He is now watching Star Wars  – I’m watching the whole story appear on the screen all about “the evil Darth Vader”! Mike has headphones on, so as not to disturb me (so considerate). He knows I am NOT a sci-fi fan! This way, he enjoys the movie and I can read my book without the TV blaring! Consideration and compromise – two important words in marriage!

I love you my Mike.

Philippians 2:3-4  “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”.

I love this. So practical!

Have a fab evening!

In His grip!

Helga 🙂